Commentary by James Quilligan, EDA managing director. Many people today are wondering, is the world losing democracy altogether? No. Not if we’re willing to take responsibility to restore it. As we contemplate the future of participatory representative democracy in modern society, it’s important to recognize the roots of democratic practice in our past. …
Making Local Decisions through Economic Democracy
A simple plan for repairing our society: we need new human rights, and this is how we get them.
[Article commentary by James Quilligan, EDA managing director:] There’s no doubt that world civilization has entered a new phase. Given America’s overarching influence on the world during the postwar era and the threat to democracy that our nation is now experiencing, some people say that June 1, 2020, was the official beginning of a…
Coronavirus Spells the End of the Neoliberal Era
[Article commentary by James Quilligan, EDA managing director:] What is the new normal dawning upon us as a result of COVID-19? Can we think in large enough terms to understand this crisis and adjust to the new reality? Jeremy Lint, a cultural historian, explains how the Coronavirus has broken open the so-called Overton window,…
A New Vision for Europe – Systems Change and Sustainability
Dear Friend: Can we solve our planetary crises while in a capitalist system? What might a new system look like? Some of the answers will be the focus of a conference (see the flyer below) to be held in Lisbon, Portugal, one of the global “hot spots” for social change. This event is being put…
Will Green Growth & Innovation Save Modern Civilization?
[Article commentary by James Quilligan, EDA managing director:] A British colleague, Tim Jackson (Prosperity Without Growth, 2009), has recently organized the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). This blog by Daniel Hausknost reviews the basic principles behind CUSP. If you study this piece closely, you’ll come face-to-face with some serious myth-busting, exposing society’s…
California Mayors Join Campaign to Buy Out PG&E
[Article commentary by James Quilligan, EDA managing director:] The gobsmacking idea of turning California’s Pacific Gas and Electric into a cooperative has got me thinking about Prout’s vision of how major corporations and large-scale utilities could be converted into cooperatives. Mainstream economists argue that certain companies can operate efficiently only by becoming very large. For…
As the Climate Collapses, We can Either Stand Together – or Perish Alone
[Article commentary by James Quilligan, EDA managing director:] A cogent article in Resilience by Tim Hollo on why survivalism is the wrong answer to the effects of climate disruption in society. Instead of reactionary individualism, he observes, collective “urban living in harmony with the natural world, brought together with deep democracy and cultivating social cohesion, is the only…
Solar panels cast shade on agriculture in a good way
Imagine you are a farmer struggling to keep up with production demands because of the increasingly stressful climate. Or perhaps you are a producer of renewable energy struggling with dramatic heat and weather. With increasing temperatures, solar panels get too hot to function properly, and crops demand more water, problems that are exacerbated by drought…
Beyond Supply and Demand: The Dynamic Equilibrium Between Global Thresholds and Allocations
James Quilligan has been speaking about resource equality to global audiences. In February, he gave a keynote talk to the Global Thresholds and Allocations Council in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Here is his presentation for that event.
Part 1 – Growing a New Economy with author Roar Bjonnes
Host: George Catlin, EDA October 31, 2017 In this initial conversation with Roar Bjonnes, co-author of Growing a New Economy, he addresses the question of what is wrong with our current economic system. What are the inherent design flaws in capitalism, and what kind of problems is it currently creating for the planet and most…
Part 2 – Growing a New Economy with author Roar Bjonnes
Host: George Catlin, EDA January 11, 2018 In this conversation, Roar Bjonnes presents an economy that embraces cooperation and concern for the whole along with the more individualistic motivations associated with capitalism. Bjonnes addresses basic questions about full employment, limits on wealth, worker-owned cooperatives, freedom and the process of getting from here to there.
Toward a Socio-Economic System of Common Wealth with EDA’s James Quilligan
Comments from EDA Learning Call – Transcript Available April 4, 2017 “It’s widely recognized that a new kind of common wealth is needed to revalue and protect the assets of Earth. Something that would resolve our private and public debts, create a global society of justice and sharing for everyone, and totally rebalance our ecology…
EDA’s Mission and Vision with EDA co-founder Wayne Wilson
Host: Lisa VanderBoom, KOWS Evolutionary Voices January 1, 2017 Wayne Wilson, co-founder of Economic Democracy Advocates (EDA) discusses the mission and vision of EDA – “economic empowerment and justice by, for and of the people.” Wayne explores how basic human needs – water, food, and energy, in particular – are in jeopardy and need our…
Stop the Leakage: How Food-centered Urban Design Solves Economic Challenges
We’ve included articles about the importance of growing food locally, and the various reasons why this is important. The article below focuses on what the author calls “leakage”, the reality in the majority of communities in North America where money spent in the community for basic requirements for existence like food, shelter, and water actually…